Valérie Plante issued an apology on Tuesday for speaking only in English at a news conference.
Montreal’s mayor was hosting representatives of three British software firms that announced plans to open artificial intelligence studios in Montreal.
After taking heat on social media for not speaking French, the mayor issued a mea culpa, a Latin phrase that means “through my fault.”
After the news conference, Plante said that she prepared the speech mostly in French but went “off script” and “improvised” when she stood up in front of everybody at the podium.
“Mea culpa. I forgot my text this morning while addressing a group of foreign investors in artificial intelligence. My communication should have been mainly in French,” said Plante in a French tweet. “I am proud to be the mayor of North America’s French-speaking metropolis, and I remain committed to promoting our common and official language in all forums.”
Mea culpa. Je suis sortie de mon texte ce matin en m’adressant à un parterre d’investisseurs étrangers en intelligence artificielle. Ma communication aurait dû être principalement en français. #polmtl (1/2)
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) December 4, 2018
Je suis fière d’être la mairesse de la métropole francophone d’Amérique du Nord et je demeure engagée à faire la promotion de notre langue commune et officielle sur toutes les tribunes. #polmtl (2/2)
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) December 4, 2018
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